Alas, as you’ve probably already noticed, there is no perfect Democratic candidate for the highest office in the land. Unfortunately, the early departures of qualified contenders, the late entry of moneyed wannabes, and a series of heated debates peopled by overwhelmed moderators and a shifting clutch of candidates haven’t made our job as voters any easier.

It’s been almost as chaotic as the Trump administration.

How to pick your person? That is the question. For debate watchers, focusing on substance was often difficult, buried as it was beneath the parry and thrust of the players. And then, there was the proverbial complicating elephant in the room: Who is best able to 1) defeat Trump and 2) increase the numbers of Democrats in the House and Senate? One thing the debates did provide was a glimpse into some of the candidates’ telling personal traits which may bear on those questions.

Amy Klobuchar, for instance, has the distinct ability to lower the temperature in the room. With the exception of an occasional dust-up when personally attacked, she calmed the cacophony when she spoke. Her soft-spoken demeanor belies a determined interior. She’s civil, proud of her Midwestern roots, and relates policy to the impact it has on real human lives. Forced to leave the hospital and her struggling newborn who remained there, she told a story every parent can relate to as when discussing the need for health care reform.

Bernie Sanders, in contrast, heated things up. He filled the room. I found myself wondering whether he listens. Much as I like many of the things he stands for, he came across as dogmatic and opinionated. And I can never quite get over the sense that there’s something tone-deaf about a politician who labels himself a “socialist” in a country where that innocuous term scares so many voters who confuse it with Russian-style communism.

Like Sanders, Elizabeth Warren is passionate

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in her beliefs and consistent in her message though she did some fine tuning in the course of the debates. Like Joe Biden, she has a compelling life story. She’s assertive in exactly the way we’ve come to know and expect since the days she helped create the Consumer Protection Bureau. Like Klobuchar, she has the ability to clarify her policy positions with the down-to-earth examples of the lives of real people.On the debate stage, Joe Biden has been forced out of the roles he’s played so well over the years—comforter at times of horrific violence (who doesn’t remember Sandy Hook?), elder advisor to Barack Obama, extemporaneous speaker par excellence when awarded the Medal of Freedom at the end of his vice presidential term. His debate performances have been, let’s say, “various.” While there’s still a lot of the warm, supportive “Uncle Joe,” there have been been moments of hesitation, though he seemed to hit his stride as the debates rolled on.Then there’s Pete Buttigieg, whom I first “met” in the middle of a sleepless night. Unable to return to my slumbers, I had turned on the TV, which usually sends me right back to Dreamland. Morning Joe was on, and they announced that some guy I’d never heard of would be the next guest. I turned over and prepared to doze off, but that guy was Mayor Pete and soon I was wide awake as he rolled out his proposal for changing the way we constitute the Supreme Court. He was thoughtful, articulate, and informed. I was impressed. And in the debates, he’s been sure-footed, confident, and not at all intimidated by a field of rivals, some of whom are twice his age and infinitely more experienced. ​

As for Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, I have only one thing to say: Money. I haven’t seen enough of either of them to offer much in the way of comment. However: Money. If we hope to survive as a democracy, one of the many issues we must attend to is campaign finance reform. No-one should be allowed to buy their way into the presidency. We’ve already tried that.

Nothing happens in a vacuum. The godless third-world performance of Trump and the vast majority of his congressional cronies didn’t burst upon the world spontaneously. I’m speaking, of course, about the shameless combo political rally/reality show that passed as a State of the Union address earlier this week. Absurd enough that the raucous right felt compelled to leap to their feet every time their unhinged leader offered up a little red meat (the scene was positively Pavlovian); but when they chanted, “Four more years, four more years,” you could be forgiven if you thought you were watching a scene in a banana republic chamber full of fear.

Then, a couple of days later we had the annual Prayer Breakfast, at which Trump not only revealed his complete disdain for the event, but also his disrespect for believers. What was more astounding? What Trump said? (“ I don’t like people … who say ‘I pray for you’ when you know that is not so”). Or the laughter of the “religious leaders” in attendance as he denigrated those who pray?

Later that day came the “speech” in the East Room of the White House. The East Room: site of bill signings, major announcements, concerts, dances, award ceremonies, and—of course—Abigail Adam’s clotheslines, replete with the family laundry. The room was packed with cabinet members (Bill Barr, ever the toady, sat front row center), Republican congress members, Fox News hosts, and Trump family members, all apparently rapt by Trump’s recital of grievances and stabs at those he dislikes.

It feels like the beginning of the end. Over the years, thanks in part to Supreme Court rulings that have unleashed torrents of money that subvert our democratic process, we’ve come to resemble a third-world country: wealth concentrated in a tiny group at the top, free press denigrated, ownership of the media in the hands of a few, low-wage workers struggling to survive, education starved for funds. The list goes on.

When I’m feeling optimistic, I let myself believe this will lead (sooner, rather than later, I hope) to a realization and a consensus that we must rethink what we’ve become and rebuild a system that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, this isn’t something that can be accomplished simply by a change of parties in control. That’s a start. But there has been failure on the part of both political parties and at all levels of government—national, state, and local—that have brought us to this pass. Several years ago, as we launched the war on Iraq, a friend said to me, “I just feel like we need to tear this whole thing down and start over.” We didn’t, of course, and now it’s even worse. Money flows up. Problems flow down. Solutions?While we can’t very well “tear this whole thing down,” we can, if our legislators put aside their own self-serving interest and if we all can muster up the bipartisan will, develop sensible taxation, provide the quality education our kids deserve, institute responsible action to avert climate change and restore the environment, develop and put in place a comprehensive medical care system for all, develop 21st century infrastructure in the transportation and cyber arenas, institute a rational, fact-based foreign policy that protects us and supports others in need. If we can muster up the bipartisan will, we could even abolish the distinctly anti-democratic (small “d”) electoral college, institute voting laws that guarantee one person-one vote and establish term limits so that the legislators, who often benefit financially from many of the bills they pass, are restricted in the amount of time they can spend at the public trough.I know that all sounds “pie in the sky.” But isn’t it exactly what we should expect our government to do? Isn’t that their job? Isn’t that what our taxes should buy? ​

Thoughts for Our Time

“Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks from Principle, disavows Progress; having rejected all respect for antiquity, it offers no redress for the present, and makes no preparation for the future.”~Benjamin Disraeli